Intel has confirmed that it has delayed the release of its 800MHz frontside bus Pentium 4, despite launching the processor alongside its support chipset, the i875P, today.

At issue is a "small anomaly observed in validation testing on a small number of chips", a spokesman said. In response, Intel halted shipments of the chip. It is unable to say when those shipments will be resumed.

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn with the original, infamous Pentium floating point bug. But that glitch emerged after the chip had shipped - and Intel initially refused to accept that there was a problem. ®